By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – A significant drop in enrollment in recent years in the automotive program at Peninsula College had administrators seriously considering dropping the program altogether. For now, according to President Dr. Luke Robins, automotive classes are on hold until further notice.

That fact doesn’t sit well with people in the automotive industry, and they want to help the college do whatever it takes to enhance the college’s program and generate renewed enthusiasm from young people to get into the field.

So why the big drop in enrollment? We asked Robins if there was a problem with finding jobs for graduates.

“I don’t believe it’s an issue of placement. In fact, I believe the folks that we’ve talked to in the automotive field, when they say they’re having a hard time finding technicians, I believe them. So there’s something going on there, you know, that’s more complex than, ‘people can’t get jobs when they complete a program’. It’s about recruiting into the program. You know, I think there’s an issue of helping, particularly young kids at the high school level, you know, appreciate the value of professional technical trades, and figuring out ways to communicate with them that those are good paying jobs that you can make a living wage at, and it’s something that would be a good fit for a lot of students.”

The Manager of Wilder Auto in Port Angeles, David Krafsky, says his shop alone employs 9 graduates of the Peninsula program. He thinks the college could do a better job of promoting the program and recruiting students to join it. Krafsky himself got his start in the business after being recruited right out of high school.

“In 1982, I was graduating from high school. I was the kid that definitely wasn’t going to a four-year school. And this rep comes up to our automotive shop and says, ‘Hey, I’m from this place in Arizona called Universal Technical Institute’. And then, frankly, I signed up. And it’s been very good for me to raise a family, put kids in college, and all that other stuff. And there’s no reason at all why we can’t do that with Peninsula College.”

Robins says the automotive program is an expensive one to run and, like their other programs, relies heavily on their community partners for expertise and other forms of support. He says they’ll be distributing a survey to gather more input and will continue the dialogue to see what can be done to keep the program going, including making changes to the curriculum, if necessary.

Krafsky says continued community support won’t be a problem.

“Yeah, I think the word needs to get out that the automotive class is there and that it can happen. I mean, I am holding my hand up as high as it can possibly get, and I’m not the only one, to say, ‘You know what? We’re here to help, and let’s get together as an industry and plug this program and help it thrive and survive’. I don’t know exactly what that looks like. But what I do know is that if the only issue was enrollment, how much enrollment do we need? When do we need it? And then let’s go to work and try to help fill it.”